Return to self and construction of a revolutionary consciousness between Malek Bennabi and Ali Shariati ✍️ Hisham Mahmoud Suleiman
The question of returning to oneself is one of the most important intellectual questions raised by the modern intellectual movement in the Arab and Islamic world, particularly in the face of the challenges imposed by the colonial era. The goal of returning to oneself is not to return to the first. past in all its details, but rather it is a call to rebuild the consciousness that individuals and societies have lost under the hegemony of Western cultural and political issues. Against this backdrop, critical thoughts from two of the Islamic world's most prominent thinkers. 20th century, Malek Bennabi and Ali Shariati appear, who presented philosophical and social perceptions that reflect their attempts to revive self-awareness in Islamic societies. While Bennabi considers the return to oneself as a profound civilizational process aimed at rebuilding society, Shariati sees it as a way to free man from cultural and political colonialism based on a liberal religious vision.
Return to self: Malek Bennabi and the concept of cultural awareness: –
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Malek Bennabi was one of the thinkers who latched onto the question of consciousness in the context of the Islamic renaissance. Bennabi believes that Islamic societies have lost their ability to think critically and rationally because of colonialism, and he proposes the idea of ”. susceptibility to colonization,” meaning the nation’s weakness in the face of foreign intervention due to its lack of self-awareness in this view. What I am proposing is that the concept of “return to self” is evident according to Bennabi as the first. process of reshaping collective consciousness in a way that helps build an independent civilization, far from the influences of intellectual and political colonialism.
For him, the return to oneself is not just a recovery of the past, but rather a process of building a critical mentality that allows individuals and societies to interact with contemporary challenges without losing their connection with their cultural roots. and religious. Islamic society lost this ability to think independently due to colonialism, then the return to self-awareness allows it to regain its intellectual and planning abilities to build a civilized society capable of keeping pace with the times.
The starting point of Bennabi's thought is that the return to oneself requires a profound modernization of the cultural and intellectual structure of societies while preserving the Islamic heritage as a reference, but with an interpretation that reflects the spirit of the times. and its challenges in rebuilding. mental consciousness, societies can embark on their project of rebirth on new civilizational foundations.
The return of Ali Shariati to his religious and political freedom:
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On the other hand, Ali Shariati believes that the return to self in the context of Islamic thought is not limited only to the mind or culture, but rather extends beyond them to an aspect political and social according to Shariati.
The return to self cannot simply be an abstract or intellectual idea, but rather must be linked to social and political practices. Shariati emphasizes the need to restore revolutionary understanding of Islam, which he sees as a motivation for change and liberation from colonial rule. whether political or cultural.
Shariati believes that the Islamic Revolution is not only a political movement, but rather a religious intellectual movement which aims to free man from slavery in its various forms, but this liberation does not involve adherence to the literalism of past, but rather by returning to the essence of Islam, which was not a religion separated from political and social issues. According to Shariati, returning to oneself means returning to a revolutionary Islam that achieves social justice and equality and which can become an effective tool for confronting poverty and tyranny. Thus, in Shariati's thought, the element of liberation from cultural colonialism which placed Islamic societies in a state of dependence and imitation of the West is evident.
Shariati's vision differs from that of Bennabi in that he emphasizes the revolutionary dimension of Islam, because he believes that the return to oneself requires reviving the revolutionary thinking that was prevalent in the first Islamic society, a thinking that involves justice and equality and incites social and political change. . Shariati believes that this thought can only be realized through revolutionary political action that embodies authentic Islamic values.
Similarities and differences between Bennabi and Shariati
Despite the difference in the intellectual contexts and frameworks from which Malek Bennabi and Ali Shariati come, the two thinkers agree on several fundamental points, the most important of which is the emphasis placed on the need for self-awareness in the face of colonialism and to contemporary challenges. Bennabi believes that self-awareness is the basis for rebuilding Islamic civilization, while Shariati sees this awareness as the beginning of liberating societies from cultural and political dependence, leading to the construction of a society liberated from tyranny.
But the differences between them appear in the method that each of them considers necessary to achieve this return. While Bennabi believes that the return to self requires a profound intellectual reform that guarantees the Muslim person the capacity to renew himself mentally, Shariati believes that the return to self also requires revolutionary political action that rebuilds society on liberal Islamic foundations.
The return to oneself as a cultural and revolutionary need:
We can say that the idea of returning to oneself according to Malik Bennabi and Ali Shariati constitutes a response to cultural and political colonialism, which imposed great challenges on Islamic societies. Despite their difference in approach, both see the return to oneself. oneself is not simply a recovery of the past, but rather a profound reconstruction for consciousness and thought, whether at the level of reason or revolutionary action. In this context, the return to oneself remains a fundamental necessity for any true rebirth. who can achieve freedom and justice in the Islamic world.
